Family Isn't Always Blood
by Kristen3
Summary: Set in 3.16, "The Image Disappears." At the hospital, John tries to comfort a hurting Bay. Can he make her see that, even though she's lost a parent, she still has plenty of family? One-shot. Rating is for slight profanity.


**Author's Note: **Angelo's death completely surprised me. I loved how the two families came together, though, despite all that they've been through. I began to think about how Bay had lost one of her fathers, but she still had another, and this resulted. Reviews are appreciated!

"What the hell do you know about what _he_ would want? He's not even your dad!" Bay signed as she spoke the words to Daphne. Her anger was evident, even if Daphne couldn't hear her. Before Daphne could respond, Bay walked away.

"Bay!" John called out. He'd seen his two daughters arguing, and now Bay had stormed off. Everyone was tense now. But anger wasn't about to solve anything.

Bay heard her father's footsteps behind her. "Daphne wants us to cut Angelo open again and take his organs! What is he, a piece of machinery?!"

John reached out, touching her shoulder. "Daphne's just trying to do the right thing here. It's hard on all of us. Yelling at each other isn't going to help."

"'It's hard on all of us'?" Bay said. "How can that be, when he's _my_ father?!"

"Bay..." John said, trying to ignore the hurt he felt at hearing his daughter refer to someone else as her father. Technically, it was the truth, but that didn't make it easy.

"It's not fair. He's my father. He was supposed to raise me, but thanks to somebody's mistake, he didn't get a chance to! Once I found him, I thought I'd finally get a chance to get to know him. I thought maybe he could fill in some of the blanks. After I found out about the switch, I didn't know who I was anymore. Meeting Regina and Adriana helped, but there was still a piece missing."

John didn't know what to say. He just went over to Bay and hugged her. It was the only thing he could think of. "It's OK," he whispered, knowing it wasn't OK at all.

"If we take him off those machines, he'll be gone, and there's no getting him back," Bay said, pulling out of the embrace.

"I know, sweetheart. It's tough on Regina and Daphne, too. But you're the only one here who's related to him by blood. I wish I knew how to fix this, but I can't."

"I know. I just wish none of this had ever happened!"

"We all do. None of us wanted this," John said.

"I wanted him to take me to Paris this summer so that I could practice my French. Now that's never going to happen. And he'll never be there when I have a baby, or get married, or anything." Bay hated the way tears were forming in her eyes. She knew there was no way to stop them from running down her cheeks.

Once again, John's heart broke, seeing his daughter in so much pain. "I know you'll always miss Angelo. I would never try to take that away from you. But don't forget, I'm still here."

"I know, Dad," Bay said in a small voice. Only then did she realize that maybe she still had a father.

"When we brought you home from the hospital, your mom and I thought you were the greatest daughter ever. I still think that. Then, a couple of years ago, I found out I had another daughter. I don't know how I got so lucky."

For the first time, Bay felt herself smiling a little. "I was always so angry at Angelo for leaving Regina. Now look at him. I'll never have a chance to say I'm sorry."

"Sweetheart, you can't think like that. You'll end up torturing yourself. We've all said things to Angelo that we regret. When he first showed up, I didn't want him anywhere near you. _I _was your father, and I didn't want anything to change that."

Bay looked at John, and suddenly, she felt a lifetime of memories hit her. Memories of her and Toby when they were little. How their parents were always around. Despite all of the problems, Bay knew she'd had a pretty good family. Blood or not, it didn't matter. "You've always been my dad," she whispered.

John's heart warmed to hear her say those words. It may have been Angelo who'd fathered her, but he had raised Bay for eighteen years. There were a thousand little moments that no DNA test could ever change. Bay was still his daughter, and always would be. "I love you," John said, hugging her once again. "I know this is going to be hard on you, and I can't do anything to change that. But your mom and I are here for you, no matter what."

"Thanks, Dad," Bay said, smiling as the hug ended.

"What for?" John asked as Bay wiped her tears.

"For showing me that I have more than one family. How many people can say that they've lost their dad, but they've still got another one?" She laughed. The Kennish-Vasquez family was far from perfect. No one could disagree with that. But one thing was certain: they loved each other. And with a foundation like that, there was nothing that couldn't be overcome.

** The End**


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